STAMFORD, Conn. – December 13, 2018 – Mike Tirico interviews NFL analyst and Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner and Yahoo! Sports college football writer Pete Thamel this week on the latest episode of The Mike Tirico Podcast, available now across all podcast platforms.

In this week’s episode, Warner and Tirico discuss the current NFL season and what advice he has for some of the best QBs in the league right now. Tirico chats with Thamel about how close the style of play is in the NFL and college football right now, and the latest coaching trends as the College Football Playoff approaches. Click here to listen to this week’s episode.

This marks the ninth episode of The Mike Tirico Podcast. Click here to listen to prior episodes which include interviews with Notre Dame Football head coach Brian Kelly and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers.

The Mike TiricoPodcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Stitcher and podcasting apps.

6:30 – Tirico and Warner examine how the passing game has become more prevalent and less involved

9:15 – Warner on how Drew Brees remains one of the best QBs in the game

12:30 – Warner’s take on Rams, Saints, Cowboys and Texans

19:00 – Thamel on how offense in the NFL now mimics college football

25:30 – Thamel on legitimacy and impact of 7-on-7 football

30:00 – Thamel discusses how many college head coaching jobs are more desirable than NFL jobs

KURT WARNER WITH MIKE TIRICO

Warner on unique ability of Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes to make plays: “As weird as it sounds, not everybody can do that. Not everybody can just take a ball and do whatever you have to do to make it work, and Patrick has that…even though I don’t think Patrick Mahomes is where he’s going to be three or four years from now…you’ve got a magical season for a second-year guy, and I don’t even think Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid expected it to play out how it has.”

Tirico on the changes in the passing game in football: “I remember you guys with the Rams, and there were really intricate and developed route combinations. I feel like a lot of football now is reverting to, especially in the college game, ‘Athlete, just go get a jump ball and make a play.’ Some of the nuance in the pass game is being lost with the volume of the pass game. Is that a fair statement to say generally about football?”

Warner: “You have to be able to make the plays that you’re supposed to make, not just those special plays you hope to make. It frustrates me because I don’t know if it’s lack of coaching… I’m a firm believer that the game is not as complicated as we make it sometimes…I’m afraid we don’t have a lot of young guys that are being taught or have that understanding or are going down that path, where five or six years from now, even though we’ve got the talented guys, will they be able to sustain it the way a Drew Brees or Philip Rivers or Tom Brady has?”

Tirico: “A lot of those guys are going to college, and it’s, ‘Alright, we’re at the line, no huddle, and now we’re going to look over to the sideline and they’re going to tell us where to go with the ball.’”

Warner on if teams around the league have solved the Saints offense: “I don’t think they have. This is a team that’s balanced. You can’t just go man defense across the board every time, because Sean Payton can scheme you that way. They’ve got the ability to run the football with two guys. Kamara is always a matchup nightmare…but how did Dallas slow them down? They got to Brees consistently with four guys. Doesn’t matter how good you are. If you get to a quarterback and pressure him, you’re not nearly as good.”

Warner on chances of Cowboys and Texans to reach NFC and AFC Championship Games: “Everything is going to have to go right for both of them. They have a lot of pieces. They’re good in certain areas. I look at (Dak Prescott and Deshaun Watson) and I say, ‘Can they make the throws they are supposed to make consistently?’”

PETE THAMEL WITH MIKE TIRICO

Thamel on the effect college football has had on the NFL in recent years: “The sense I’ve gotten in talking to NFL folks is that these worlds have never been closer, schematically, in the last generation…2 years ago, everything pretty much looked the same, more or less, at both levels, and the NFL trickled down into college…in the last 10-15 years, there’s been a significant trickle up. Lincoln Riley, obviously his schemes have been amazing…he’s certainly the boy genius of the collegiate scene right now.”

Thamel on prominence of college football head coaching jobs over the NFL: “When you look at Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State – those are better than at least a dozen NFL jobs.”